Personal care homes in Winnipeg hit by COVID-19 outbreaks as case numbers continue to soar

COVID-19 is hitting personal care homes in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, with 19 reporting outbreaks as of Thursday. 

That's up from eight declared outbreaks at personal care homes on Dec.31, according to a spokesperson from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. 

"It's hit the staff pretty hard," said Laurie Cerqueti, CEO of The Saul and Claribel Simkin Centre. 

Croqueti says the personal care home, which is currently in the midst of an outbreak, has had more staff test positive for COVID-19 in a week than during a seven-week outbreak in 2020. 

She says while nearly all the home's staff are double-vaccinated, 29 have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two weeks or so. Currently, one resident has COVID-19. 

She says the rapid rise in cases among employees has left them short-staffed, with no additional support from Manitoba Shared Health.

"It's kind of an all hands on deck situation where everybody needs to chip in and help," she said. 

Cerqueti says she doesn't think anyone is doing anything wrong, but believes the number of staff cases shows just how infectious the Omicron variant is. 

"Really, it's been a variety of staff," said Cerqueti, who estimates there's about 250 staff total at the home. "There hasn't been one department more affected than the other."

Staff, volunteers and designated caregivers are doing their best to handle the situation, she says, but must prioritize what gets done due to the recent staff shortages. That means bedding might only be changed if it's soiled, beds might not get made, and residents might receive a sponge bath instead of a tub bath, she says. 

Cerqueti says some staff members are able to return to work this week, which means the home is in a better position right now than it was this past weekend: "At the moment in time we're stable but, like I say, that could change tomorrow."

A spokesperson from the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said in a statement that staffing shortages due to illness and isolation requirements are affecting most Winnipeg health-care facilities. 

"We are closely monitoring the situation, and we continue to meet regularly with PCH operators and assess and address all requests for assistance as best we can given the system-wide shortages," the authority said in a statement on Friday. 

Cerqueti says when her team requested assistance through Shared Health's provincial recruitment and redeployment team (PRRT) around Dec. 31, they were given the name of one person who wasn't available to start working until a week later.